Road to Halloween: Eduard’s Top 5 Horror TV Shows

Written by Eduard Sviridenko October 29, 2017

They say we fear what we choose to fear. Indeed, why watch a TV show if you are scared to watch it? Especially if it can be canceled any time leaving you wondering what happens after that cliffhanger. More especially if its actors play so bad that it scares you more than the actual plot itself. And even more especially if it’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

There are very few really good horror TV shows, but it’s possible to find them. Yes, you’ll be scared to watch them, but you can expect to get a good charge of adrenaline at the same time. The thing is, the best horror shows out there don’t just scare you, they force you to come out of your lovely comfort zone and look at the things around you in another, completely new way. I’m not saying that you’ll suspect there’s a Demogorgon living under your bed, or that you’ll think it’s time to get ready for a zombie apocalypse. No paranoia, I promise. You just start to appreciate what your life looks like and that, unlike the poor heroes of that TV show, you don’t have to live in constant horror surrounded by dangers, struggling for your life every single day. Unless you’re doing a PhD, but that’s a whole other story. Below, I have collected the best TV shows of the horror genre just in time for Halloween. But make no mistake: these horrors will never stop haunting you.

5. The Walking Dead

“Look at the flowers.”

Not everyone likes The Walking Dead, but everyone watches it. The show will always be truly memorable for how it blew up cable TV ratings, becoming one of the most popular series in recent years. The Walking Dead is a show about real people who cope with unreal situations and do it in such way that you sincerely feel for (almost) every one of them. Killing children, killing zombies, zombies killing pregnant women — The Walking Dead has something to truly scare you. I must admit that sometimes the zombies look frighteningly cute, though, and make you feel nothing but tenderness. Or is it supposed to be that way?

4. Hannibal

“Nothing here is vegetarian. Bon appetit!”

Hannibal is a show with a difficult fate, similar to that of the main character’s victims. But you have to give NBC its due: the network didn’t give up on Hannibal even when it was almost dead, ratings-wise. After all, it was always alive story-wise and quality-wise. They say Hannibal was too complicated for a mass audience and should have aired on a cable television instead as that’s where it could have shown its true inner beauty (yes, I’m talking more blood and violence). Perhaps it’s true but even this version of Hannibal made us involuntarily shudder in horror in its every episode. Plus, the show did manage to have a pretty long run nevertheless and left us all quite full. Or…do you want more meat?

3. American Horror Story: Murder House

“Don’t make me kill you again.”

American Horror Story anthology is great, but American Horror Story: Murder House is phenomenal. It was the first season of the popular FX show that truly revolutionized the genre on TV and changed the idea of what a horror show could be like today. We follow the life of a simple family, its development, its degradation, its re-creation, its destruction, and all this through the prism of fear. American Horror Story: Murder House gave us unforgettable hours of incredible horror along with incredible enjoyment. After all, what other show on TV makes you not only feel fear but also enjoy it and leave you wanting more?

2. Stranger Things

“What about the other time, the one?”

What can be stranger than Stranger Things? Demogorgon, the Upside Down, experiments on children, super abilities, paranormal phenomena — and all this in the horror genre. The popular Netflix show is not only strange, it’s strangely good. Who would have thought that a mix of everything wrapped in horror could be that fun to watch? The show succeeds in being truly unique with not-so-unique ideas. Stranger Things is not without its flaws: I personally can’t forgive and forget how unfair Barb’s storyline was (justice for Barb!), but the show just returned with its second season, so let’s see if justice for Barb has finally been delivered. And remember: it’s never a good idea to sit alone by the pool in the dark.

1. Bates Motel

“I love you, Mother.”

One of the most underrated series of our time, Bates Motel deservedly wins the best horror TV show. No one believed Bates Motel would succeed when it was first announced. In fact, the very idea of making a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s most iconic horror film instilled unimaginable fear in everyone. But these fears were not justified: the show didn’t just turn out good, it surpassed all expectations and became a true masterpiece, a worthy addition to Psycho. Bates Motel doesn’t try to be “like Hitchcock”: it goes its own way, has its own story, its own purpose. The psychological thriller perfectly illustrates the process of how a loving son becomes a psycho, how a mother’s fear for her son shifts into a fear of him, and how their unbreakable bond slowly but surely destroys them.